Cecil Lawrence Pashley (1891–1969) was a British aviation pioneer.
Cecil Pashley was born in the Great Yarmouth, Norfolk on 14 May 1891 to parents Alexander and Cecilia (Ryan). He learned to fly in 1908 and, in partnership with his younger brother Eric, established a flight training school at Shoreham Airport in 1913 when they founded the South Coast Flying club. Cecil's two brothers were both killed during the First World War; Herbert was a 2nd lieutenant observation balloon officer and died on Christmas Day in 1916, whilst Eric was a lieutenant flying Airco DH.2s with No. 24 Squadron RAF, 24 Squadron Royal Flying Corps and died in an accident on 17 March 1917.
One of Pashley's students was Frederick George Miles, F. G. Miles with whom he later founded the Southern Aero Club which remained in business after his death.
Pashley trained large numbers of pilots during both world wars. During the Second World War Pashley was commissioned in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He was awarded the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom), Air Force Cross in 1944
and a made a Order of the British Empire, Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1948. Pashley was a Flight Lieutenant when he resigned his commission in 1954.
In 1962 "Pash" (as he was popularly known) was presented with a special silver medal to mark his 50 years of active flying, which spanned the early days of aviation to the jet age, over which he had logged an astonishing 18,900 hours (13,000 of them on instruction) and had taught about 1600 people to fly.
Cecil Lawrence Pashley died on 10 December 1969, aged 78, at Southlands Hospital, Shoreham.
A proportion of his personal archive has been purchased by the West Sussex Record Office.
A road at Shoreham Airport and a List of Brighton & Hove bus names, local bus have been named after him.
See also
*List of aviation pioneers
References
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20100815210933/http://www.findon.info/sussex_sights/sussex_sights.htm
Shoreham had a role in aviation history– ''The Argus''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pashley, Cecil
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
Royal Air Force officers
English aviators
Aviation pioneers
1891 births
1969 deaths
People from Worthing